Meteorological satellites to be launched in 2015, 2017

2011/12/25 15:18:41

Taipei, Dec. 25 (CNA) The launch date for FORMOSAT-5, a remote-sensing satellite, is scheduled for 2014, while 12 meteorological satellites under the FORMOSAT-7 program are scheduled to be launched in 2015 and 2017, the Hsinchu-based National Space Organization (NSO) said Sunday.

The 12 satellites under the FORMOSAT-7 program, a joint venture between Taiwan and the United States, will be launched in two separate groups in 2015 and 2017 due to limited staff and testing facilities, said the NSO.

NSO Deputy Director-General Yu Hsien-cheng said that as the organization is currently carrying out the FORMOSAT-5 program, it has no spare capacity for the testing of the 12 FORMOSAT-7 satellites.

Six of the meteorological satellites under the FORMOSAT-7 program, designed for gathering weather information in low-latitude regions, will be launched in 2015, while six other high-latitude meteorological satellites will be launched in 2017, Yu said.

A satellite designed and manufactured in Taiwan will also be launched in 2017, he continued.

Taiwan will benefit from more accurate weather information once the FORMOSAT-7 satellites are orbiting, he said.